Chapter 5 No.5

She stepped past the foyer, crossing a threshold she had never breached before. Her boots squeaked on the polished black marble, the sound echoing down the corridor like a gunshot.

The hallway was long, a tunnel of shadows. The walls were lined with digital art frames. As she passed, the images shifted-abstract shapes morphing into what looked like eyes, then back to geometric patterns. It was disorienting, designed to make you feel unstable.

"Proceed to Kitchen," the robotic voice instructed. It seemed louder here, coming from everywhere and nowhere.

She followed the lights on the floor. The kitchen was at the end of the hall.

It was a stainless steel cathedral. Everything was metal and glass, industrial-grade and spotless. It looked like a place where you performed autopsies, not where you cooked meals.

On the massive island counter, a single envelope sat. It looked thicker than usual.

She walked over, placing the food bag down. Her senses were on high alert, straining against the silence. She reached for the envelope. It was heavy.

CLICK.

The sound was mechanical and final. A heavy magnetic lock engaging on the door behind her.

In the same instant, the lights died.

Total darkness. Absolute. Even the exit signs were disabled. It was like being struck blind.

She froze, instinctively crouching low to reduce her silhouette, her hand hovering near her boot.

"System error," the robotic voice glitched, the tone dropping an octave. "Rebooting..."

Liar. She knew a manual override when she heard one. This wasn't a glitch. This was a cage.

She forced herself to stand up, letting a tremble enter her legs.

"Hello? Sir?" She pitched her voice high, frantic. "The lights went out! I can't see!" But her body did the opposite. Her weight shifted to the balls of her feet, her muscles coiling. Her right hand, hidden from any potential camera angle by the island, was already gripping the hilt of the blade in her boot. One wrong move. That's all she'd give him.

No answer. Just the low, steady hum of the refrigerator.

She began to feel her way back towards where she thought the door was. Her hands swept the air.

She bumped into a barstool. It scraped loudly against the tile. The noise was deafening in the dark.

Then she heard it.

A soft intake of breath.

To her left. Ten feet away.

He was in the room with her.

Her heart rate spiked-genuine fear mixing with the adrenaline of the hunt. He had been there the whole time, waiting in the dark.

She spun around, hands out in a defensive, pleading gesture. "Who's there? Please, I just want to leave! Take the food!"

The sound of bare feet on tile. Soft. deliberate. Predatory.

He was circling her.

She backed up, shuffling until her hips hit the hard edge of the island counter. Trapped. Nowhere to go.

The air shifted in front of her. He was close.

A hand brushed her hair. It was light as a feather, a ghost of a touch.

She gasped, freezing in place. Every instinct screamed at her to strike, to drive her elbow into his solar plexus. But she stood still.

The darkness felt heavy, pressing against her chest, suffocating her.